In Arte, Buddha
Original oil painting by Matthew Holden Bates.
In Arte, Buddha - oil on canvas by Matthew Holden Bates.
Florence, Italy.
Click the painting to view it larger.
About This Painting
In Arte, Buddha is based on the sculpture and philosophy of Shinjo Ito, whose work was shown in Florence in 2009. This statue was placed at the Fortezza del Basso, where I encountered it in a moment of extraordinary light.
As I photographed the statue for the painting’s source material, the sun was setting directly onto the whole figure. The effect was almost supernatural: the sculpture seemed to receive the light rather than merely reflect it. My own shadow appears on the base, quietly recording my presence at the moment the image was born.
That shadow became part of the painting’s meaning. It places me inside the scene, not as a central subject, but as a witness. The painting holds the statue, the light, the philosophy behind the work, and the fleeting physical evidence of the artist standing there with the camera.
Like many of my paintings, this work began with direct observation and photography, then developed slowly in the studio through drawing, composition, and layers of oil paint. It is a painting about sculpture, presence, light, and the charged silence that can appear when a real moment suddenly feels larger than ordinary time.